Preparation

Trim excess fat from duck breasts. Heat a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat until very hot. Pat breasts dry and season with salt. Put breasts, skin sides down, in skillet and reduce heat to moderate. Cook breasts 20 minutes, or until skin is crisp and mahogany-colored, removing fat from skillet as it is rendered with a metal bulb baster (or very carefully pouring it off). Turn breasts and cook about 2 minutes for medium-rare or to desired doneness. Transfer breasts to a plate and keep warm, covered loosely.

While duck breasts are cooking, peel pear and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Pour off all but about 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and sauté pear until lightly browned, about 1 minute. In a measuring cup stir together apple juice and cornstarch. To pear add Calvados or Armagnac. Stir in cornstarch mixture, peppercorns, demiglace or bouillon cube, and thyme and simmer, stirring, 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Serve duck breasts, sliced, with sauce spooned over them and garnish with thyme sprigs.

Menus & Tags

This Recipe is Featured In:

Tags:

Recent Review

I made this last
night for dinner
using 1 Magret duck
breast (good for 2
people). First off,
the 20 minute
cooking time in the
hot pan just seemed
crazy-long to me! I
ended up cooking it
my usual way - 6 to
7 minutes fat side
down in a hot pan
over medium heat,
and then another
6-10 minutes in a
400 degree oven meat
side down. Let it
rest for 5 minutes -
perfectly
medium-rare and the
skin gets nicely
crisped. //
I used unpasteurized
apple cider and
Calvados and *did*
use the peppercorns,
crushed very well
with a mortar and
pestle. I liked the
bite and brininess
they added, but only
when crushed
well...if they
remained whole, it
was a bit much.
Would use cracked
mixed peppercorns
next time. //
Oh - and 1 pear is
good for 2 servings
- if making this for
4 people, use 2
pears (which I diced
instead of slicing
as others
suggested).